Refrigerator door assembly



y 1966 G. E. SANDERS ETAL 3,252,253

REFRIGERATOR DOOR ASSEMBLY Filed March 30, 1964 N E mm on m? INVENTORS.GARLAND E. SANDERS EDWARD A. ZAK

ERNEST E- SANDERS @1444 United States Patent 3,252,253 REFRIGERATOR DOORASSEMBLYv Garland E. Sanders, Detroit, Edward A. Zak, Hamtrarnck, andErnest E. Sanders, Detroit, Mich, assignors of twenty-five percent eachto Garland E. Sanders and Edward Zak, and fifty percent to Ernest E.Sanders Filed Mar. 30, 1964, Ser. No. 355,832 4 Claims. (Cl. 49-120).

The present invention relates to refrigerating units and moreparticularly to an improved door assembly for commercial refrigeratingunits and the like.

The trend in merchandising, refrigerated items such as beverages or thelike has been to provide refrigerating or cooling units which areconstructed to permit the customer to make his own selection. Theproblem with such self-service refrigerator units is that the customerwill not always close the door of the unit properly after he has madehis selection so that operation costs are high and the merchandise beingrefrigerated may become too warm or even spoiled.

Further, heretofore known door assemblies for such refrigerating unitshave usually comprised a pair of horizontally slidable doormembers inwhich double tracks are provided and in which to open the unit one dooris slid in front of or behind theother door. Such an assembly has thedisadvantage that only half of the refrigerating unit is accessible tothe customer at a time and if merchandise is desired from the closedhalf, both doors must be moved to the opposite side of the unit. 7

The present invention provides an improved refrigerator unit especiallysuitable for self-service type merchandising and which is provided withan improved door assembly having means retaining vertically slidabledoors in an open position but being operable to close completely uponbeing started towards a closed position. In this way it is impossiblefor the customer to leave the door slightly ajar. Further, the doorsslide on a single track and move together toward and away from a closedposition. The particular construction of the door assembly makesaccessible the entire contents of the unit upon opening the doors.

It is an object of the present invention to improve self-service typerefrigerating units and the like by providing'a door assembly for suchunits having means for retaining the doors in a fully open position andmeans automatically moving the doors to a completely closed positionupon movement of the doors slightly from the fully open position.

It is another object of the present invention to reduce the costs ofproducing commercial refrigerator apparatus by providing a door assemblyfor such apparatus having door members slidable on a single track.

It is still another object of the present invention to make merchandisebeing stored in refrigerator units more readily accessible by providinga door assembly for such apparatus comprising a pair of verticallyslidable door members and means moving said door members simultaneouslyfrom an abutting closed position to a separated and opened position.

Still further objects and advantages will readily occur to one skilledin the art to which the invention pertains u pon reference to thefollowing drawings and in which like reference characters refer to likeparts throughout the several views and in which- FIG. 1 is a perspectiveview of .a refrigerator unit incorporating the door assembly of thepresent invention and showing the door members in a closed position.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially on line22 of FIG. 1 but showing the doors in an open position.

Patented May 24, 1966 FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional view takensubstantially on line 33 of FIG. 2, and

Description Now referring to the drawings for a more detaileddescription of the present invention, a preferred refrigerating unit 10is illustrated as comprising spaced side walls 12. As can best be seenin FIGS. 3 and 4, each of the side walls 12 is provided with avertically positioned channel member 14 or similar member defining theforward edge of the side wall 12. The channel members 14 each have aforward vertical flange 16 and a rearward vertical flange 18 defining avertically elongated recess 20 disposed to face the corresponding recess28 of the opposite channel member 14.

Each of the side walls 12 is provided with an outer covering of asuitable material which may if desired be integral with the materialcovering the other side wall 12. Thus, the side walls 12 and the rear(not shown) of the unit 10 may be covered by a single sheet 22 of asuitably bent material.

A top sheet 24 of material is bent over the front of the unit '10 toform an upper front panel 26. A bottom sheet 28 of material is bentupwardly over the front of the unit 10 to form a lower front panel 30.

As can best be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, an elongated track member 32 ismounted within the recess 20 of each of the channel members 14. Thetrack members 32 are positioned adjacent the forward flange 16 of thechannel members 14 as shown. Each of the track members 32 carries anupper lateral extension 34 and a lower lateral extension 36. Theextensions 34 and 36 are disposed intermediate the track members 32 andthe rearward flange 18 of the channel members 14 and each carry a roller34A and 36A respectively.

An upper door 37 comprises a rectangular frame 38 encompassing andretaining a glass member 40. A lower door 41 comprises a rectangularframe 42 encompassing and retaining a glass member 44. Handles 46 areprovided on the frames 38 and 42 to open the doors 37 and 41.

The doors 37 and 41 extend across the front of the unit 10 and thevertically extending portions of the frames 38 and 42 are disposedwithin the recesses 20 of the channel members 14. Track members 48similar in construction to the track members 32 but facing in theopposite direction are carried on the vertical portions of the frames 38and 42. The rollers 34A engage in the track members 48 carried on theupper door 37 and the rollers 36A engage in the track members 48 carriedon the lower door 41.

Each of the track members 48 is provided with laterally extendingportions 48A which carry an assembly 50 disposed to engage in the trackmembers 32. In this way the upper door 37 and lower door 41 are eachvertically slidable in the track members 32 and on the rollers 50. Astop plate 52 limits downward movement of the lower door 41.

As can best be seen in FIG. 2, a pulley 54 is mounted near the top ofeach of the recesses 20. A cable 56 has one end secured to the trackmember 48 of the upper door 37 and extends over the pulley 54 as shown,with its other end secured to the track member 48 of the lower door 41.

The upper horizontally extending portion of the frame 38 is providedwith a weighted member 58 as shown in FIG. 1. The unit 10 is providedwith horizontally extending cross pieces 60 and 62 which are positionedto coincide with the upper horizontal portion of frame 42 of the lowerdoor 41 and with the lower horizontal portion of the frame 38 of theupper door 37 respectively. Horizontally stantially the half way point.

extending resilient seals 64 and 66 are provided on the forward edges ofthe cross pieces 60 and 62 respectively. A resilient seal member 68 isprovided on one of the frames 38 and 42 in a position intermediate thedoors 37 and 41.

The weighted member 58 tends to urge the upper door 37 to slidedownwardly in the track members 32 and 48 along the rollers 30 and 34Arespectively. As the upper door 37 slides downwardly, the cable 56 tendsto urge the lower door 41 to slide upwardly on the track members 32 and48 and along the rollers 50 and 36A respectively to meet the upper door37. The length of the cable 56 is preferably such that the doors 37 and41 will meet at sub- When it is desired to open the doors 37 and 41 thelower door 41 is urged downwardly, bringing the upper door 37 upwardlyuntil the lower horizontal member of the frame 38 and the upperhorizontal member of the frame 42 engage the resilient seals 64 and 66respectively. This engagement will cause the doors 3741 to remain openuntil they are moved slightly to disengage from the resilient members 64and 66 and thus the resilient members 64 and 66 perform the dualfunction of sealing the doors 37 and 41 in the closed position andfrictionally retaining them in the open position. Once the doors 37 and41 have been started towards a closed position to bring the horizontalmembers of the frames 38 and 42 out of frictional engagement with themembers 64 and 66 the weighted member 58 will cause the doors 37 and 41to continue to move until they are completely closed.

It is apparent that the door assembly of the present inventionsubstantially minimizes the problems caused by self-service refrigeratorunits being left open by the customer. The customer will usually make aneffort to close such units, but he just will not always be sure that thedoors are closed completely. With the door assembly of the presentinvention, once the doors have been started toward a closed position,they will continue to a closed posititon without further help. i

The particular door assembly of the present invention permits access tothe entire unit upon opening of the doors.

door member mounted in a position over said lower door member, said doormembers movable intermediate a closed position in which said doormembers engage one another and a separated open position, and saidweighted upper door member tending to move toward said closed position;

(c) means connecting said door members and cooperating with the movementof said upper door member to move said door members togetherintermediate said closed position and said open position;

(d) each of said door members comprising a rectangular frame havingupper and lower horizontally extending members; and

(e) at least two horizontally disposed resilient members longitudinallyextending across opposed sides of 7 said opening and secured to saidunit, said resilient members being less in length than the width of saiddoor members and being adapted to respectively engage the upperhorizontally extending member. of said lower door member and the lowerhorizontally extending member of said upper door member when said doormembers are in the open position so that said door members areyieldingly and frictionally "retained in said open position, and torespectively and sealingly engage the upper horizontally extendingmember of said upper door member and the lower horizontally extendingmember of said lower door member when said door members are in theclosed position.

2. A door assembly for a refrigerator unit or the like as defined inclaim 1, wherein said unit defines a rectangular door opening.

3. A door assembly .as defined in claim 1, wherein said resilientmembers disengage the horizontally extending members of said doormembers upon movement of said door members from the open and the closedpositions.

It is also apparent that although we have described but I one embodimentof the present invention, many changes 4. A door assembly as defined in'claim 1 wherein said door member connecting means comprises:

(a) a pulley adapted to be fixed to said refrigeration unit, and (b) acable having one end fixed to said upper door member, extending oversaid pulley and having the other end fixed to said lower door member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,095,370 5/1914Bardsley 20-19 X 2,463,250 3/1949 Curtiss 20l9 X 2,737,781 3/1956Gelfand et al 2019 X 3,091,004 5/1963 Mays 20l9 HARRISON R. MOSELEY,Primary Examiner.

K. DOWNEY,v Assistant Examiner.

1. A DOOR ASSEMBLY FOR A REFRIGERATOR UNIT OR THE LIKE HAVING A DOOROPENING DEFINED THEREIN, COMPRISING: (A) A PAIR OF VERTICALLY EXTENDINGTRACK MEMBERS SECURED ALONG OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID DOOR OPENING; (B) AWEIGHTED UPPER DOOR MEMBER, A LOWER DOOR MEMBER, MEANS VERTICALLYSLIDABLY MOUNTING SAID DOOR MEMBERS IN SAID TRACK MEMBERS WITH SAIDUPPER DOOR MEMBER MOUNTED IN A POSITION OVER SAID LOWER DOOR MEMBER,SAID DOOR MEMBERS MOVABLE INTERMEDIATE A CLOSED POSITION IN WHICH SAIDDOOR MEMBERS ENGAGE ONE ANOTHER AND A SEPARATED OPEN POSITION, AND SAIDWEIGHTED UPPER DOOR MEMBER TENDING TO MOVE TOWARD SAID CLOSED POSITION;(C) MEANS CONNECTING SAID DOOR MEMBERS AND COOPERATING WITH THE MOVEMENTOF SAID UPPER DOOR MEMBER TO MOVE SAID DOOR MEMBERS TOGETHERINTERMEDIATE SAID CLOSED POSITION AND SAID OPEN POSITION; (D) EACH OFSAID DOOR MEMBERS COMPRISING A RECTANGULAR FRAME HAVING UPPER AND LOWERHORIZONTALLY EXTENDING MEMBERS; AND (E) AT LEAST TWO HORIZONTALLYDISPOSED RESILIENT MEMBERS LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING ACROSS OPPOSED SIDESOF SAID OPENINGS AND SECURED TO SAID UNIT, SAID RESILIENT MEMBERS BEINGLESS IN LENGTH THAN THE WIDTH OF SAID DOOR MEMBERS AND BEING ADAPTED TORESPECTIVELY ENGAGE THE UPPER HORIZONTALLY EXTENDING MEMBER OF SAIDLOWER DOOR MEMBER AND THE LOWER HORIZONTALLY EXTENDING MEMBER OF SAIDUPPER DOOR MEMBER WHEN SAID DOOR MEMBERS ARE IN THE OPEN POSITION SOTHAT SAID DOOR MEMBERS ARE YIELDINGLY AND FRICTIONALLY RETAINED IN SAIDOPEN POSITION, AND TO RESPECTIVELY AND SEALINGLY ENGAGE THE UPPERHORIZONTALLY EXTENDNG MEMBER OF SAID UPPER DOOR MEMBER AND THE LOWERHORIZONTALLY EXTENDING MEMBER OF SAID LOWER DOOR MEMBER WHEN SAID DOORMEMBERS ARE IN THE CLOSED POSITION.